


the little mess we make

by yo_let_me_get_a_milkyway



Category: Bull (TV 2016)
Genre: Comfort Reading, Dogs, Fluff and Humor, Gen, M/M, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-28 21:27:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30145842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yo_let_me_get_a_milkyway/pseuds/yo_let_me_get_a_milkyway
Summary: Chunk needs help giving his dog a bath. Benny is available.Or, the unnecessarily fluffy addition of a golden retriever is made.
Relationships: Benny Colón/Chunk Palmer
Comments: 4
Kudos: 6





	the little mess we make

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ChrysandZain](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChrysandZain/gifts).



> we all need a golden retriever in our lives :)) this could be read as gen or ship but regardless, i hope we can enjoy some fluff!
> 
> anyways. this is for my wonder-bull girlfriend <33 keep pogging on, darling!

Chunk should really know how to do this. 

The guest bathroom's tub has been scarcely used, but that doesn't mean he's kept it in tip top shape. Running the water is hard enough to deal with, what with Charlie and his perceptiveness concerning water and all things affiliated with it - the moment he mentioned the word  _ bath  _ on the phone with Benny, he scampered all the way across his homey little apartment and hid under the coffee table before he goaded him out with a treat. 

"C'mon, lil dude," Chunk sighed, already in his pajamas and a T-shirt back from university, sitting on the rim of the tub as Charlie stared at him expectantly and fearful. "It's just a bath, it ain't gonna hurt you."

Charlie frowned up at him, making a small  _ boof  _ noise in response as if to voice all his concerns. If he wasn't so cute, Chunk would be pinching the line between his brows and calling some veterinarian to do this themselves. Fortunately for him, he had decided to put this off until late into the night. 

It was only after minutes of contemplation that he decided that he couldn't do this alone. Letting Charlie rest his head on his thigh, he pulled out his phone and texted his coworkers:

_ Chunk [10:30): time sensitive. how do i wash my dog?? _

_ Marissa [10:31]: I think you just… wash the dog  _

_ Taylor [10:31]: this is a srs matter. we caretakers would know _

_ Benny [10:35]: Chunk, I thought you called me earlier saying you didn't need help.  _

_ Chunk [10:35]: well i do.  _

_ Chunk [10:35]: can i get a bit of help here?  _

_ Benny [10:40]: Dogs don't like being washed cause the bathtubs are slippery. They need that solid surface.  _

_ Bull [10:41]: boyd take it tk th privatr messaves izzz iz gonnsa kikk me _

_ Benny [10:42]: Go back to sleep, Bull.  _

_ Benny [10:43]: I'll be there in 10, Chunk. Hang on tight.  _

_ Chunk [10:43]: ?!?!?!?  _

_ Benny [10:45]: You need help, right? I'm coming over to help you bathe Charlie.  _

_ Danny [10:46]: like bull said. take it to the dms, boys 🙄🙄🙄 _

_ Benny [10:47]: Sorry, sorry. See you there.  _

_ Chunk [10:47]: !?!??!!? _

_ Benny [10:49]: Oh, and Bull. Turn off your notifications.  _

Chunk turns off his phone, the quiet click noise alerting Charlie and averting his attention. "You'll be fine," he promised his large friend, petting through his head and scritching under his ears. "Benny will be here soon."

At the sound of Benny's name, he seemed to lighten up from his original tense stature. Chunk smiled in amusement, standing up to abandon his place inside the bathroom in favor of taking the couch to wait for Benny. 

Thankfully, he didn't take too long. The doorbell rang and you could hear Charlie perk his head up in excitement as Chunk hollered and stood to see the door. Peeping through the door hole, he could see Benny with his phone in hand, leather jacket slapped over a casual graphic tee with a Puerto Rican flag on it, as well as… 

"Dude," Chunk laughed out as he opened the door. "You did not have to bring this much towels."

Benny snorted at him. "Relax, Chunk. I know what I'm doing," he reassured him, ducking over his arm to enter his living room as Chunk slid the door lock behind him. "This is your first time bathing your dog, right?"

"Well… no…"

"This your first time bathing your dog. In a bathtub?"

"Not my fault he loves the sprinkler guy!"

At that, Benny laughed in amusement and dropped the series of towels on the plush of his couch. "Well consider yourself lucky," Benny proclaimed. "I used to give my neighbor's dogs lots of baths back in the day, I'm sure I can still pull it o- woah!"

Just then, Charlie circled his feet and hopped on the couch to jump on him. It was more of Benny following his push, but in less than a second Charlie was already on him, licking all over his face and pressing little doggy kisses on his cheeks. "There's a good boyyy," Benny drawled out, happy to receive such a welcome wagon. "How could Chunk hate you so much? You're such a wonderful dog!"

"Oh, he's just acting like that," Chunk wistfully joked, rolling his eyes. "A minute into the bathroom and you'll already be wishing you never came here."

"We'll see about that, Mr. Palmer." 

A few moments later, they got everything situated. It was more of Benny rearranging the guest bathroom while Chunk stood by and watched him in the corner, Charlie happily wagging his tail at his side with the tub unbeknownst to him. As Benny laid out several towels on the floor - to Chunk's questioning, before he realized Charlie would be making a bit of a splash - Benny explained their game plan. 

"This is gonna involve a lot of treats and a lot of water," Benny told him in the same way he spoke at work as they planned for voir-dire. "You're gonna wanna put him on the set of towels inside the tub, and his instinct is gonna be to jump out. Let him sling his arms over the bathtub rim, rather than soaking him completely, and work with the bucket and the shampoo while I mind him in the front."

"...Wow," Chunk responded. "You put quite a bit of thought into this."

"Learned it the hard way back in '89 with a Shepherd," Benny replied, leaning down to rub at Charlie's head. "Had to chase him around the house, that bugger. I was only 14 at the time!"

With the mental image of a teenaged Benny stammering after a large dog, Chunk laughed amusedly and proceeded to sit himself beside Benny. "Back in Puerto Rico, right?"

"Yeah," he said, a wistfulness in his sigh before he turned to look at Charlie. "But enough about me - let's deal with the man of the hour."

Hoisting Charlie into the tub wasn't too much of a hassle, the good boy almost willingly allowing himself in Chunk's arms before he was lowered into the water with just as much resistance as before. His body seemed to push itself up - almost as if it was avoiding the water, and it wasn't until his tail touched the surface that Benny really upped the petting count. 

Luckily for them, Charlie was a smart dog. He felt the solid structure of the wet towels beneath his paws instead of the detested slippery floor of the tub and untensed before than he had before, to which Chunk watched in awe as Benny smiled and gave him more and more paps to keep him happy. 

"Told ya this would work," Benny stated as he picked Charlie's front paws out of the water to rest over the rim of the tub. "You wanna get to washing him up, Mr. Stylist?"

A little distracted, Benny grinned and nudged his foot to grab his attention. "Oh, right," Chunk said. "Yes, the uh. Dog washing. Let me do the honors."

They worked in a nice tandem, Chunk with the fur and Benny with keeping up on Charlie's state. Chunk would tell him he needed to get a certain spot and Benny nodded, comforting Charlie and small talking him as if he were another human. It was funny how Benny lost all sense of professionalism around Charlie, but Chunk ignored pointing it out in favor of washing him up.

"Y'know," Benny began. "This is actually kinda fun. We should really do this more often - biweekly dog washing meetings. I'd love to see Charlie more."

"Well I'm sure he'd like to see you more as well," Chunk responded kindly, running his hands through a soft part of the fur before dumping water on it and feeling Charlie tense up slightly. "You make this all a lot easier for him, y'know?"

"That's what I like to hear."

Eventually, minutes passed and Charlie was looking spick and span just as usual. Chunk gently lifted him out of the tub, Benny with a blow dryer and a towel ready the minute he stepped on the drying mat. Chunk focused on draining out the water from the bath while Benny happily fluffed up and rebrushed Charlie's fur, coat shiny and good as new. 

"Well, this has been fun," Benny said. "But it looks like our champ is already chickened out. You wanna take him to the couch?"

Chunk looked back at Benny and Charlie, who sat on the floor with the bodies extended as Charlie rested his head on Benny's tummy. "I think we should," he agreed. "Lemme take him."

Lifting up his dog (who had maken hasty work of passing out, bless his tired soul), Chunk led them out of the bathroom and back on the couches. Benny was happy to plop down next to Charlie, providing himself as a makeshift pillow for the dog to lean his weight on. Chunk put on the news, happily allowing them some background noise before-

_ Oh. He's not the only one who's asleep.  _

It wasn't as gradual as he would expect - Benny was out like a light as soon as they finished. He must've been really tired, what with the heavy workload and all that and this was most likely his limit…

"Well then," Chunk decided amusedly, grabbing a blanket on the side of the couch and draping it over them before he proceeded to head down his hall. "Sleep tight, both of you. I'll be in my bedroom."

In the hopes that either of them would join, he left the door creaked open. 

  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> mwah mwah. thanks for reading, leave a kudo or a comment. come talk dog with me @yo-let-me-get-a-milkyway on tumblr!


End file.
